Sound and Sync Workshop

The rest of my group and I unfortunately missed this workshop, as that time was our only opportunity to get some important shots for our client work. However, with Taz's help I managed to catch up and familiarise myself with the basics regarding audio recorded with boom and radio microphones. Also, the importance of using a clapper board during production, in order to ensure that both the visual and audio elements are synced up correctly during post-production.

Featurette Planning

The plan for our featurette was for it to follow on from the viral ad; answering the questions posed in the first piece. The two/three minute film is to include at least two sit down interviews, and considering our first piece concentrated on the scores of music that had to be learned by Tim, it is vital really to include him as one of our interviewees.
After corresponding with Simon about filming opportunities, we are really keen for the possibility of shooting during one of the performances as part of the Haydn festival, which features Tim playing one of Beethoven's sonatas. We we were also given the opportunity to interview one of the stage crew responsible for moving the instruments, or the page turner who works with Tim.
However, we have had some difficulties arranging this with Simon, the main reason being that MITR does not own the Crucible theatre, the only operate within the building, therefore timing and availability is something of an issue. A further problem has also been raised due to the availability of the musicians, Tim in particular, as his schedule also is uncertain and unpredictable.

Update

We have received the following confirmation from Simon in regards to filming our featurette;

Hi Aidan Right, we have everything sorted I think. Tim is happy for you to come into the rehearsal on SUNDAY afternoon at 2pm, for the last 15 minutes of his rehearsal, which you can film, and then he is happy to answer questions immediately afterwards. Then there is the concert, and he would be happy for you to film his solo sonata, which he is playing in the second half of the concert, with Rachel the page turner. We will get you a fixed camera position on the first tier of seating for the concert itself. The page turner is also happy to be interviewed, either before or after the concert (tbc). Then at the end, you can film the piano being carefully wheeled back into its piano store behind the theatre, and also talk to my colleague Kathryn about how the piano is looked after and stored. I think and hope that gives you every element you need. I will be there too – please can you ensure you are at the Crucible Studio main doors (in the foyer) by 1.45pm on Sunday, and let me know via my mobile, below if this is going to be a problem. FYI, I am NOT going to ask the Theatre for permission for you film elsewhere in the building – foyers, etc – as it will open a can of worms, so I hope you can get what you need from the above Let me know if this causes any problems Simon

(Via Aidan Oldroyd)

The plan now is to film Tim's rehearsal before the concert, a long with his interview. We then intend to film his sonata during the concert, as well as interviewing Rachel, the page turner, after the show.

MIDI Workshop

In this session, we were taught an alternative way to add audio and sounds to visuals by using the MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) and various plug-ins using pro-tools. It was explained to us that the MIDI itself is not an actual instrument, but a tool used in conjunction with the plug-ins installed on Pro-tools. When the keys are hit, it tells the software which notes to record. Darryl also explained some basic controls of the MIDI, including how to move down an octave and adjustments of the sound. I found this to be an incredibly useful workshop, for the reason that it has been a struggle to find music and sounds which have the ability to set a mood or provoke an emotion, without having to deal with the issues of copyright. It also provides us with the ability to be able to create and control every aspect of a projects.
Once the basic controls were explained, we were set the task of creating a short piece using the MIDI and the pro-tools plug-ins. This was to go along with one of a selection of clips provided, in order to try and set a mood and pace with the visual image. The variation of sounds available in the different programmes is huge, but it took quite a lot of sorting to find a selection of sounds which didn't sound comical or inappropriate. Once selected, there is the option to edit the notes that you have laid down, including changing the sound, looping, moving it up/down an octave and so on.
We were given a few examples of electronic compositions for various film sound-tracks. A notable one was of David Fincher's Gone Girl. The soundtrack composed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. The track is very provocative, and it's purpose is definitely to push a certain mood or emotion within the viewer. The high-pitch and pulsing notes definitely reinforce the mood set by the scene.

When it came to experimenting with the sounds to produce a short piece to go with the provided clips, I became quite personally overwhelmed by the huge choice of sounds, but quite intimidated because of the fact that I have very little music ability. However, it soon became apparent that this was not entirely necessary. I chose to create a short composition for a si-fi/space scene, managed to use the MIDI to create a track to go with the atmosphere and tone of the scene. (Due to the Mac I was using crashing I was unfortunatly unable to save an example of this).

Example of how the notes are laid down in pro-tools

Viral- Final Presentation/Feedback

We were very happy with the feedback we received for our video, particularly after all the worries about the quality of our footage in some places. We received generally good feedback from our client, Simon, however he did comment on the decision to include two questions in our ad, stating his preference of only presenting one to the viewer (How many hours does it take to learn music?). Regardless of this, he did say how he enjoyed the different approach we took compared to others in our group, and how we kept a very tight focus on the pianist and the music. Further praise was given for the style and pace of the editing, which I think is a result of a very good group effort when it came to editing. 

Our weaknesses of course did include the grainy/poor quality footage at certain points in the piece, however, having explained to Chris that this was beyond our control (given the environment we were filming in) we were assured that this was not a major issue. 

Overall, we as a group were very pleased with the outcome and the reaction we achieved from it. The feedback also inspired further ideas for our featurette, including looking at the relationship between Tim, and those who contribute to his performance (particularly the page turner). 

MITR Viral Personal Evaluation

Music in the round Viral ad feedback/
strengths and weaknesses
Pro’s

• Learned a lot more about editing with avid, really benefited from the knowledge of other people in the group
  
• Research survey helped us to identify a clear aim/target audience (maybe?)
  
• Well planned and organised in our planning/shoots/editing
  
• Made really good use of the opportunities given to us e.g. use of the theatre, the piano and the
  music volumes
  
• Worked hard to produce something that matched our clients initial vision and aims
  
• Made me realise the need and importance of being more organised with my files and footage
  
• We all managed to make plenty of time for the project, even with other commitments such as
  work or other projects Con’s
  

• Difficulties planning around the use of the theatre and the small and limited amount of time we were given
  
• Technical difficulties e.g. working from a hard drive provided us with some pretty big problems
  
• Could have provided ourselves with more footage to work with
  
• Lighting issues (beyond our control) when filming in the theatre, resulting in noisy/grainy shots
  
• Audio i.e knowing our limits in regards to copyright, using our own recorded sound, making sure
  it set the pace to our film, cutting it together
  I’m happy with our film overall. I wish I could have had more input, but the matter of the fact was my team members seemed to have a more advanced technical knowledge than me, although this really helped me to expand my own knowledge and to hopefully be able to be more helpful in the next part of the brief.
  I think we overcame the small issues, such as music and audio/difficulties with footage really well. I think the way we handled the soundtrack might be one of the most creative parts of the project, as their are many different sections of Beethoven’s Sonata all incorporated into the one video, and it was able to set the pace well for the visual images. I also think the way we utilised the theatre, the piano, and the music volumes was done really well, especially considering the subject and the situation we had to work with provided us with quite a challenge. I’m pleased that we were provided with a vague image of what Simon wanted, it gave us the ability to collaborate his ideas with our own, in order to produce something that we knew he wanted. This being through the turning of the music volume pages, in order to emphasise the sheer amount of time and effort that is put into a classical music performance. I liked the idea of this first ad to pose a big question “How long does it take them to practice music?” As it has left us with an open-end to work with for the next section of the brief. 
  

Sound clean-up workshop

This session was spent looking at how to clean up sound and enhance specific elements, in order to achieve a more professional sounding result. 

• EQ represents all the audio frequencies we can hear as humans in Hz from 20.0 Hz - 20.00kHz
• Ultra low is called sub bass (very low frequency)
• Mid frequencies - instruments, voices
• High frequencies - high pitch sound 
• The BYPASS button in the EQ effects editor shows the original clip
• Compressor/Limiter- Lifts the volume if you've recorded something to quietly 
• High pass filter-  cuts out all the lows and lets the highs pass in the spectrum
• Low pass filter - just allows the lows pass through
• Academy curve - roll off at 10K and 50 - internationally used EQ setting for dialogue

Viral- Final Cut

Rough Cut- Client Feedback

In this session, we presented our rough-cut of our Viral ad to Simon, in order to gain his personal feedback and advice on which direction to take it in next. Although at this point we only have about a minutes worth of edited footage, we're pretty clear with what our intended message is and how we want to convey this visually. In our initial planning stages, Simon was pretty clear about what he visualised himself, and we were trying to go a long with his ideas as closely as we could because we knew this was his own imagination of the ad. At this stage, our main focus was on the grainy and poor quality footage of certain shots taken from the Crucible theatre stage, however, we were assured by Simon and Chris that this was not as big an issue as we had anticipated. The bigger issues were with the use of music and the pace of the shots. We had previously be very unsure of our limitations in regards to the use of music on our viral, but because it was mainly about the scores of Beethoven music that Tim has learned, we were incredibly set on being able to use this music in our piece. Simon suggested that we have a look at some free archives, in hope of being able to find a royalty-free version of one of Beethoven's sonatas. However, Taz had previously been unable to find a piece that was of good enough quality for use in our piece, this being the reason that we chose to leave it out of the rough cut. Simon also suggested that we could use any music we had recorded at the concert, but again we were very set on including Beethoven's scores as it seemed much more relevant to our piece. 

The amount of shots used was also an issue in the first rough cut, we found a lot of footage captured was actually un-usable (due to the environment we were filming in), therefore there was a lot of repetition of shots. It became necessary to gather additional footage, in order to be able to show more variation of shots. 

Overall I am positive about the direction our piece is going in, however I think the biggest matter of the music is something that might be difficult to resolve. 

First Edit

MITR 2 CUT SEQUENCE2 from Katherine Muldowney on Vimeo.

This is our first cut of our MITR Viral ad. At this point, it was just a matter of creating a good pace which matched up with the audio and the visuals. The sound and music is proving to be the most challenging feature, as we are trying to use several different parts of the Sonata, all blended into one another; which is proving rather difficult in order to hide the edits.
As well as this, we are increasingly finding the need for extra footage, as it is starting to become rather repetitive with the visuals we are using. Our plan around this though, is to increase the use of the turning pages, as the main aim of our ad is to emphasise the amount of work and practice that goes into the performance of these pieces.

In terms of the hidden marketing feature, or 'easter egg', we have come up with the idea of incorporating a reference to the MITR house band 'Ensemble 360'. We will attempt to add this as one of the page numbers you see as the pages of the book are being flicked through.